Strider attempts to heal Frodo at Weathertop

They... stumbled over the body of Frodo, lying as if dead.... Strider ordered them to pick him up and lay him near the fire, and then he disappeared.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 12, Flight to the Ford

'Few now have the skill in healing to match such evil weapons. But I will do what I can.'

[Strider] sat down on the ground, and taking the dagger-hilt laid it on his knees, and he sang over it a slow song in a strange tongue. Then setting it aside, he turned to Frodo and in a soft tone spoke words the others could not catch. From the pouch at his belt he drew out the long leaves of a plant.

'These leaves,' he said, 'I have walked far to find; for this plant does not grow in the bare hills; but in the thickets away south of the Road I found it in the dark by the scent of its leaves.' He crushed a leaf in his fingers, and it gave out a sweet and pungent fragrance. 'It is fortunate that I could find it, for it is a healing plant that the Men of the West brought to Middle-earth. Athelas they named it, and it grows now sparsely...; and it is not known in the North, except to some of those who wander in the Wild. It has great virtues, but over such a wound as this its healing powers may be small.'

He threw the leaves into boiling water and bathed Frodo's shoulder. The fragrance of the steam was refreshing, and those that were unhurt felt their minds calmed and cleared. The herb had... some power over the wound, for Frodo felt the pain and also the sense of frozen cold lessen in his side; but the life did not return to his arm, and he could not raise or use his hand.... He wondered if he would remain maimed for life, and how they would now manage to continue their journey. He felt too weak to stand.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 12, Flight to the Ford

Contributors:
Elena Tiriel 10Jul06

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